Michael Ballack makes damning assessment of his former Chelsea team-mates

Ballack spent four years at Chelsea and knows the formidable qualities that
made them such daunting opponents, but the German midfielder has questioned
the current mental strength of his former team-mates.

"Nevertheless he is acutely aware, despite his protestations that Roman Abramovich didn’t pay £13.3 million to release him from his contract as Porto coach to sack him within six months, that the pressure is growing and he has to turn things around rapidly.

“I played four years for Chelsea and I know how quickly it can go,” Ballack, who left after his contract expired in 2008, warned.

“I had a few managers [five in total] in that short time.

"I know it is always difficult for the coach. But that is not just about the coach, it is about the players too. They have to get out of this situation.”

Qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League remains, as Ballack said, in “Chelsea’s hands”.

A victory over Valencia on Dec 6 would ensure that.

But that contest comes in the middle of a tricky sequence of games and with Villas-Boas knowing that, in truth, he has to secure three consecutive Premier League wins and a Carling Cup triumph over Liverpool next week to get matters back on track.

The sequence starts on Saturday with the visit of Wolves for a game in which anything short of a convincing victory would be extremely uncomfortable for the Chelsea manager. And then there is Newcastle away the following weekend, followed by leaders Manchester City at home.

It means Villas-Boas faces five matches which may well define his season.

“With every defeat you can see they are losing confidence,” Ballack added.

“You have to get back to your roots, to square one, but with the ambitions they have of course it is harder and they are not matching them.”

Villas-Boas himself has labelled the run of form — four defeats in seven matches — a “negative spiral” and said: “Any manager in a top side wants to avoid a run of bad results.

"It doesn’t matter what’s happening to me as an individual, it’s the situation that’s happening to the team.

“At the moment the negatives are all out, exposed, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have the character to change it.”

Villas-Boas will surely, as things stand, still go into the new year as Chelsea manager and be given the January window in which to address urgent transfer matters having targeted a central defender, most probably Bolton’s Gary Cahill, a left-sided player in Porto’s Alvaro Perreira and with Nicolas Anelka set to leave, possibly a striker.

By then, Guus Hiddink will be expecting to be back at work after taking a break following his departure as Turkey’s coach, and has made it clear he would consider a role, maybe as director of football, back at Chelsea.

Villas-Boas may also have to contend with the departure of assistant Roberto Di Matteo, who is angling for a return to management and is understood to have grown frustrated at being a ‘No 2’.

Whether Chelsea allow Villas-Boas to hand-pick a replacement remains to be seen but that could indicate where he stands.

Crunch games

Saturday Wolves (Prem Lge, h)

The last time Chelsea lost three consecutive home games was 18 years ago. But 17th-placed Wolves have shipped 11 goals on their previous three Premier League visits.

Tuesday Liverpool (Carling Cup, h)

Liverpool have become something of a bogey team for Chelsea, having beaten them in the last three meetings – the two most recent at Stamford Bridge. Time for Fernando Torres to shine?

Dec 3 Newcastle Utd (Prem Lge, a)

Newcastle’s aura of impregnability was dented by last weekend’s 3-1 defeat at Manchester City.

Dec 6 Valencia (Champions Lge, h)

Chelsea need a victory or scoreless draw to avoid the ignominy of dropping into the Europa League.

Dec 12 Man City (Premier Lge, h)

The clash of the aristocrats. Ironic if this is Villas-Boas’ last match.